Manning Early
Access Program
Flex on Java
EARLY ACCESS EDITION

Bernerd Allmon and Jeremy Anderson

MEAP Release: May 2008
Softbound print: February 2009 (est.) | 375 pages
ISBN: 1933988797
Start Reading Flex on Java today through the Manning Early Access Program
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Table of Contents, MEAP Chapters & Resources

Table of Contents         Resources 
Part 1: Preparations
 1 Meet Flex and FleXPlanner - FREE
 2. Tools for building real world flex applications - AVAILABLE

Part 2: Architecting the View (Some disassembly required)
 3. Putting a fresh face on your application
 4. Connecting to back end services (Some disassembly required)
 5. Messaging using JMS

Part 3: Extra Credit
 6. Custom Flex controls
 7. Adding charting to the application
 8. Desktop 2.0 with Adobe AIR
 9. Flex on Grails - AVAILABLE
  • Author Forum
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DESCRIPTION

In the demo, a hip designer, a sharply-dressed marketer, and a smiling, relaxed developer sip lattes and calmly discuss how Flex is going to make customers happy and shorten the workday—all while boosting the bottom line. The software systems they're using have been carefully selected and built from the ground up to work together seamlessly. There are no legacy systems, data, or competing business concerns to manage.

Cut to reality.

You're a Java developer. The marketing guy tells you that "corporate" wants a Flex-based site and you have to deliver it on top of what you already have. Your budget? Don't even ask. "Make it look like the Discovery channel or something."

Flex on Java assumes you live in the real world—not the demo. This unique book shows you how to refactor an existing web application using the server-side you already know. You'll learn to use Flex 3 in concert with Spring, EJB 3, POJOs, JMS, and other standard technologies. Wherever possible, the examples use free or open source software.

The authors start with a typical Java web app and show you how to add a rich Flex interface. You also learn how to integrate Flex into your server-side Java via the BlazeDS framework, Adobe's open-source remoting and web messaging technology for Flex.

Along the way, you'll learn how to develop this sample application in a Test Driven fashion using the FlexUnit unit testing framework. The book shows you how to set up an automated build in order to leverage Continuous Integration servers like Hudson CI or CruiseControl.

The book shows you how to deploy to not only the web but also to the desktop using the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). You will learn how to integrate Flex into your existing applications in order to build a next generation application that will delight users.

Flex on Java assumes you're familiar with Java server technologies, but assumes no prior knowledge of Flex 3.

WHAT'S INSIDE

About the Authors

Jeremy Anderson and BJ Allmon are both developers for Pillar Technology Group, an Agile consulting firm in the Great Lakes area. Jeremy has been developing web-based applications and various enterprise integrations using Java and .NET for almost five years. BJ specializes in enterprise open source tools and frameworks. He has published many articles including "Build Rich Internet Applications - Using OpenLaszlo, Eclipse Laszlo IDE, and Web Tools" and "Configureless J2EE development with Stripes, Apache Derby, and Eclipse".

About the Early Access Version

This Early Access version of Flex on Java enables you to receive new chapters as they are being written. You can also interact with the authors to ask questions, provide feedback and errata, and help shape the final manuscript on the Author Forum

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